Tom Allen tells the story of a young Johann Sebastian Bach at Kay Meek Arts Centre, March 16
J.S. Bach’s Long Walk in the Snow features guest musicians Suzie LeBlanc, Leslie Dala, David Harding, and Lori Gemmell

Tom Allen.
Kay Meek Arts Centre presents J.S. Bach’s Long Walk in the Snow on March 16 at 3 pm
CBC BROADCASTER AND master storyteller Tom Allen is going to be sharing the tale of a young Johann Sebastian Bach in J.S. Bach’s Long Walk in the Snow at the Kay Meek Arts Centre on March 16.
When Bach was 18, he hadn’t yet dived deeply into composing and instead was getting into all sorts of trouble. One of the world’s leading conductors and foremost interpreters of Bach, John Eliot Gardiner, has said that biographers have been so “overawed” by the genius that they have painted a misleading picture of the man. They have depicted him as a “paragon of rectitude, studious and dull, with the false assumption that music of such extraordinary and sublime quality must have come from somebody who was beyond criticism.” In fact, according to Gardiner, Bach’s education was marred by gang warfare, bullying, and truancy.
J.S. Bach’s Long Walk in the Snow takes audiences on a 400-kilometre journey to a glittering port city with street fights, big business, and more.
The presentation features performances by four guest artists: soprano Suzie LeBlanc, pianist Leslie Dala, violist David Harding, and harpist Lori Gemmell.
Gail Johnson is cofounder of Stir. She is a Vancouver-based journalist who has earned local and national nominations and awards for her work. She is a certified Gladue Report writer via Indigenous Perspectives Society in partnership with Royal Roads University and is a member of a judging panel for top Vancouver restaurants.
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